Details arrive on new Beats Music streaming service

Since last fall, we’ve been talking about the next big venture coming from Beats, following the company’s relationship with a couple smartphone and tablet OEMs: a streaming music service. We knew it would be cross-platform, but that was about it: just who would get access? How much would it cost? Well, over the weekend we started getting our answers, with the announcement of the start of service, and a special offer for AT&T subscribers.

Beats Music goes live on January 21, available on iOS, Android, and “Windows Mobile,” which we really hope is an error on Beats’s part, and not a retro app for some five-year-old phones. There’s a free trial, and then subscriptions cost about $10 a month – nothing revolutionary there. Instead of beating the other guys with pricing, Beats thinks it can do a better job at finding music you’ll like, recruiting a number of DJs to design a wide selection of playlists. All in all, Beats Music claims to have some 20 million tracks.

So, what’s this AT&T deal? Well, for one, AT&T Family Plan subscribers can check out an extended 90-day free trial. After that, they’ll be able to subscribe at a discounted group rate, paying $15 a month for access for up to five users, on ten devices. That doesn’t sound too bad at all – presuming you can live with the Family Plan to begin with – and might be a smart way for Beats to quickly grow its user base.

Stephen has been writing about electronics since 2008, which only serves to frustrate him that he waited so long to combine his love of gadgets and his degree in writing. In his spare time, he collects console and arcade game hardware, is a motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys trapping blue crabs. Stephen's first mobile device was a 624 MHz Dell Axim X30, which he's convinced is still a viable platform. Stephen longs for a market where phones are sold independently of service, and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful; he's not holding his breath. In the meantime, he devours smartphone news and tries to sort out the juicy bitsRead more about Stephen Schenck!